A stereo camera typically has a pair of matched taking lenses designed to take, simultaneously, two pictures of the same scene. When displayed through a suitable stereo viewing device, the two images are simultaneously observed to produce a perceived three-dimensional representation of the scene.
The desired spacing from two different viewpoints requires that the images be spaced by the same distance on a roll of film. In order to maximize the number of images on a roller film, for example, a 35 mM roll of film, the images are typically exposed in an interleaved fashion. Even with this efficient interleaving approach, not all of the useable film is used, thus limiting the number of exposures that can be made on a roll of film. The constraint of image spacing (74 mM) and image interleaving, coupled with the desire to achieve good image quality, results in a film image size that is smaller in size (24 mM height.times.22 mM width) and is in a vertical or portrait format. As most scenes better lend themselves to a horizontal or landscape format, the aspect ratio of stereo images is often not esthetically pleasing. It should be noted that stereo cameras cannot be rotated since the line of the two lenses must be parallel to the ground to achieve the desired stereo effect.
The problem of image spacing has been overcome by utilizing a non-film stereo recording device such as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,078 to Paxton wherein a compact still video camera with two sensors is used to capture spaced images of the same scene. However, the image quality of still video cameras is low compared to film cameras.